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What (who) is principal - definition
WIKIMEDIA DISAMBIGUATION PAGE
Principals; Principal (law); Principal (disambiguation); Principally
principal
n. 1) main person in a business. 2) employer, the person hiring and directing employees (agents) to perform his/her/its business. It is particularly important to determine who is the principal since he/she/it is responsible for the acts of agents in the "scope of employment" under the doctrine of respondeat superior. 3) in criminal law, the main perpetrator (organizer and active committer) of a crime, as distinguished from an "accessory" who helps the principal in some fashion. The criminal principal is usually the person who originates the idea of committing the crime and/or directly carries it out, and is more likely to be charged with a higher degree of the crime, and receive a stiffer prison sentence. 4) adj. chief, leading, highest.
See also: accessory agency agent respondeat superior
principal
¦ adjective
1. first in order of importance; main.
2. denoting an original sum of money invested or lent.
¦ noun
1. the most important or senior person in an organization or group.
the head of a school or college.
(in certain professions) a fully qualified practitioner.
2. a sum of money lent or invested, on which interest is paid.
3. a person for whom another acts as an agent or representative.
Law a person directly responsible for a crime.
4. a main rafter supporting purlins.
5. an organ stop sounding a set of pipes typically an octave above the diapason.
Derivatives
principalship noun
Origin
ME: via OFr. from L. principalis 'first, original', from princeps, princip- 'first, chief'.
Usage
On the confusion of principal and principle, see usage at principle.
principal
I. a.
Chief, main, first, highest, leading, foremost, pre-eminent, cardinal, most considerable, most important, great, capital, essential.
II. n.
1.
Chief, head, leader, chief actor, chief party.
2.
Master, head-master.
3.
Employer.
4.
Capital sum (placed at interest).
Examples of use of principal
1. Principal Shaukat Perwez welcomed the guests while Vice Principal Shamsudeen gave a vote of thanks.
2. In fact, she is a principal – and not just any principal.
3. Geological Survey, another principal investigator.
4. She stayed, rising through the ranks –– she was assistant principal for two years –– before being named principal in 2003.
5. The fact is that Al Qaeda now sees Britain as both its principal target and its principal recruiting ground.